Arts & Entertainment

Best Musical Minneapolis 2014 - Urinetown: The Musical

This unexpected Broadway hit with a terrible name has been on other Twin Cities' stages in the past, but it found a triumphant home at the Jungle Theater this year. A musical about a dystopian society where a long-term water shortage means that everyone has to pay to use the toilet doesn't sound like a success, but the material has a giddy, naughty charm to it. This production nailed the Broadway sendup, and the small house and clever staging brought the action right into our laps. Director John Command reunited members of the cast from an earlier Bloomington Civic Theatre production to give the show a solid backbone. Local favorites such as Gary Briggle, Randy Schmeling, and Jodi Tripp brought their best to the production. Bradley Greenwald topped the cast as narrator/enforcer Officer Lockstock. Greenwald's excellent comic timing and second-to-none pipes served him well here, making the often morbid subject matter into a night of pure joy.